Forum - View topicInterview: Vic Mignogna
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totalgeek
Posts: 307 Location: Raleigh, NC |
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I loved the interview and I really appreciated Vic's take on Edward Elric. I hadn't really thought about some of those aspects of Ed's personality before.
However, I guess it is the agnostic in me that just felt wierded out by all the references to Vic's religious faith. How many times do I have to hear that the guy is religious? It is evident on his website, and he has mentioned it in other interviews. Does he have to mention it in every conversation he has? |
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Angel Of Death
 Posts: 176 Location: Harper Woods, MI |
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He must be really devout then. I just block it out. |
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matthewlow
 Posts: 147 Location: San Ramon, California |
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Why not? If it is the center of his life, he ought to be able to talk about it. If you don't agree, don't read it. It's not too hard. When people do interviews or talk to me, I bring God up all the time, and if they don't like it... well I get flamed/ignored, but who really cares. I applaud Vic for this. Funny I never knew this, and had the pleasure meeting him for the first time at AnimeExpo and got him to sign my Black Broly Blasts. |
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biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
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First of all, I'm very glad that Sunday Spotlight is back, even though it's now a watered-down version of its former self. In my view, that's better that spending time with The Dub Track and Right Turn Only in the ANN Column graveyard.
Second, Bamboo did an excellent job with the interview with Vic. After reading the interview a few times, I recall that Zac Bertschy did an interview with Vic in Anime Insider (Issue #19, p.15). There were a couple of questions in his interview that were pretty interesting, and in a way is related to some of the prior posts on this thread: From Anime Insider #19, p. 15: A.I.: How do you feel about Ed being voiced by a woman (Romi Paku) in the Japanese version? Vic Mignogna: The Japanese vioce actress did a fantastic job with Edward. While I obviously don't sound like her, I'm very excited with where the character is going. So while I may not voice him as high as the original seiyuu did, I'm confident that Edward's energy will come through just the way it should. A.I.: How hard is it to get into character for Edward? V.M.: Getting into character for Edward isn't too difficult, because I have spent so much time dwelling on him - his relationship to the other characters, his guilt, his dreams and goals. We also have a few things in common, so I feel like I'm able to find him pretty fast when I enter the booth. I also noticed that both Bamboo and Zac asked him the same question in their interviews - What is your dream character? Vic gave the same answer to both of them. I haven't watched FMA in its native Japanese yet so I cannot comment on Romi's performance; however, I believe that Mike MacFarlene and Colleen Clickenbeard (the ADRs for FMA) made the right choices in casting Vic and Aaron as the Elric brothers. Contrary to what some people said, I think that Vic is emoting very well. To me, he doesn't sound too whiny or screechy; he sounds very sincere and gracious. As an anime fan who looks at character connections as the #1 factor for watching/purchasing anime, the strengh of the seiyuu/voice actors in how they emote their characters plays a determining factor into how strong the connection is to the viewer. I feel that Vic and Aaron show great strength in their portrayals of their characters (I'm most impress wit Aaron's performance considering that he is only a 12-year-old kid), and because of how strong these two actors make their characters is why I think that the dub of FMA is one of, if not the best dub track on the anime market. As far as the comments on Vic's devotion to God and his faith, he has the right to express his faith just like everyone else. In fact, I'm very glad that he makes his faith not just a part of his life, but the most important part of his life. I wish that I show more devotion to my faith as Vic does, especially with all the personal tragedy that befell me over the last two years. I'm still dealing with the death of my little brother from last year, and just last month, one of my co-workers and a close friend of mine died of cancer just six months after she was diagnosed with the disease. To read about a person's devotion to his/her faith and how his/her faith motivates that person to achieve his/her goals and dreams definitely put my views of my faith in a different perspective; it helps to make me a stronger person. I also find it very interesting that Vic shows great devotion and love for Edward Elric. This reminds me a lot about how much love and devotion Tiffany Grant has towards her signature character, Evangelion's Asuka Soryu. I wonder if Vic will start collecting memorabilia and figures of Ed in much the same way that Tiffany Grant does with Asuka. 
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Bamboo's interview, and I can't wait for the day when I can finally meet Vic Mignogna in a future convention. Hopefully he will be a guest at next year's Ohayocon down in Columbus, OH. |
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shenlongmizuno
 Posts: 51 |
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Vic is actually one of the few voice actors I feel do a good job portraying his characters and his style is just fun to listen to. I enjoyed his voice in Princess Nine and Generator Gawl. Of course he can't sound the same Japanese VA, he puts his own spin on the character while remaining pretty faithful to the writer's intent. It simply isn't possible for white guys to sound the same as the Japanese, bigger body frames and all that I suppose. Ever hear the dubs where the females try to sound squeaky and cutesy.. doesn't work
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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I actually think Vic's portrayal is pretty good, it's different from the Japanese, but not SO much as to be REALLY annoying. I think Scott McNeil's Duo was a worse "sounds like he's nowhere near that body frame" voice. And he is much better about hitting the characters emotions than Christopher Nicholas as Arima in the Kare Kano dub (for reference, Veronica Taylor was great, Nicholas was just AWFUL, so this isn't a "dubs suck" comment).
Anyway, I think the "Japanese teen boy" is one of the hardest (if not THE hardest) voice to match, as original Tenchi (Tenchi Muyo) and Shinji (Evangelion, altho haven't seen the redub) are both HORRIBLE relative to the character, not commenting on the acting job, just on the casting. I think Vic makes one of the better "teens" that I've heard in a while, and if nothing else, I'll give him some extra credit for his appreciation for and dedication to the specific character. I think fans should appreciate a guy that really LIKES the character he plays. |
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
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What?!? Watered-down?! I'll have you know that this isn't watered down at all.  I'd much rather have some good ol' fashioned sweat and effort poured into one interview than things dispersed into five.
I think Vic was a great choice for Ed. Sure, he sounds very different from Paku, but he brings forth an earnestness and passion into Ed that I think is really terrific. I'm sure it helps that he loves Ed's character so much, so he really throws in all of his soul into portraying that character. Coupled alongside with Dismuke, whose frank, mature-for-his-age portrayal of Al really shines through, I think they make a fine pair. There's some voices in FMA that make me run up a tree, but I think the brothers were very well cast. |
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biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
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Alright, I'll admit that "watered-down" was a bad choice of words on my part. My apoligies. 
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totalgeek
Posts: 307 Location: Raleigh, NC |
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Please don't misunderstand. I wasn't trying to take issue with his right to believe whatever he wants to believe. Nor was I trying to say that he shouldn't feel free to express those beliefs. My issue was more with the frequency of those expressions. For example, let's say I owned an old Ford Fairlane that I had spent a year or more restoring to its original state. Now, I talk about the restoration process on my personal website, and then to all my co-workers. I talk about it to my girlfriend, and all my friends. I talk about it to my entire family. I even talk about it to strangers I see in a grocery store checkout isle. Wouldn't you start saying it is abit overkill at some point? Of course, I have a right to be proud of my accomplishment. It is something that is very important to me. It took up a great deal of my time and I should be able to tell people about my hard work. But, eventually, I would start to sound like a one trick pony. People would think that this is all I am able to talk about. People might even start to shun me. My grandmother is famous for the phrase, "The Lord said, 'All Things in Moderation' ". I don't know if that is true, or not (since I'm not about to memorize the Bible), but it think it is a phrase to live by. Don't do anything "too much" because it isn't good for you or those around you. |
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ananda
 Posts: 109 |
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I think he does a great job portraying Edward Elric, he does it with a sense of emotion and care I can easily connect with him.
I really like his voice too, it suites his character quite well. As for the Japanese VA, I can't judge his performance, don't really know how since I don't speak Japanese, but I think that his voice “sounds” good at least. |
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Nobuyuki
Posts: 536 |
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And yet there are a lot of anime fans that do the exact same thing about their hobby. |
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totalgeek
Posts: 307 Location: Raleigh, NC |
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And those people wierd me out a little, too!
Last edited by totalgeek on Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:08 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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biliano
Posts: 956 Location: Cleveland, OH |
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I didn't misunderstood your post; I was merely making a point about how I wish I was more devoted to my faith as much as Vic is. While it does appear that Vic is overemphasizing his devotion a little bit, I don't really know if that's true or not since I don't know the man on a personal level; I only know Vic Mignogna through his works (and the occasional interview). But you are right in saying that we should all take things in moderation. I didn't mean to disrespect you and if you felt that I did, then I apoligize. 
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Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
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Well, there is one key difference here... if you look at the interview, some of it is asking him for his personal perspective. That will cause him to answer candidly, so why shouldn't he? It's one thing to just talk about it... it's another to be asked something that will bring it up. I think he's just being upfront about who he is, nothing more. If he were quoting chapter and verse for each question asked, that would be overboard. Is there really any need to blow things out of porportion by suggesting that he's somehow going overboard about his faith? |
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totalgeek
Posts: 307 Location: Raleigh, NC |
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Well, if you go back and look at the interview and the questions he was asked, there were two questions that didn't have any implicit religious angle to them and yet his first paragraph for both questions pertained to religion and bore little relation to the answer to the question. He then followed up the religious paragraphs by answering the questions in a somewhat secular fashion. He actually did give some good insights in those follow-up paragraphs, though. I don't mind answering questions pertaining to faith and religion with an explanation of your faith. How else are you supposed to answer a question like that, after all? I do think it is a little overboard, however, when you inject a faith discussion into a question that didn't relate to religion in any overt way. That would be like being asked what your favorite food is and somehow answering the question while injecting a conversation about what high school you attended. It might be interesting, but it isn't what was asked. |
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